<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Recruits and Kingdoms by Xylophlow</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25470412">Recruits and Kingdoms</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xylophlow/pseuds/Xylophlow'>Xylophlow</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Epithet Erased (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 11:28:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,426</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25470412</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xylophlow/pseuds/Xylophlow</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>yeah, I need a better name for this.</p><p>A retelling of Epithet S1's story but its an Medieval/fantasy AU with some changes. I don't care if someone already did this-</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Out of the Blue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Molly finds herself in the middle of a gang of bandit's plans, breaking into her lord's manor to steal things. Or that least they tried.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Planning this story took forever qwp</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“MOLLY!” A man’s voice boomed. “CLEAN UP THE HOUSE!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A young serf girl stumbles in with the broom. “Y-yes Sir!” She stammers. The girl clutches the broom and wanders over to the dusty bookshelves and starts sweeping, her star-covered, curly brown hair bobbing up and down with each stroke. Molly was her lord’s favorite serf, but he didn’t show it too much besides making her clean the house and cook instead of doing farm work, like all the other peasants.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She gazed out the window longingly. She wished she could be out playing with the other children instead of sweeping her lord’s house all day, then cleaning and filing the taxes. The serf sighed. She touches her brown dress that her mother made for her sadly.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A crash from outside the window caused her to jump. The window bursts open as a red hooded and pink-haired bandit falls inside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eek!” Molly squealed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hand me your valuables!” The bandit threatens. Six more thieves pathetically climb through the window, pushing and shoving each other.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Molly drops her broom and backs off, but she bumps into a bookshelf. “I-I don’t know where my lord keeps his valuables!” She stammered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>”Hm... didn’t expect to find a little girl...,” the pink-haired bandit muttered. He menacingly walks over to her. “Show me where the treasures are, or I, the great Giovanni Potage, will use my Epithet on you!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Molly presses her back on the bookshelf. “I told you, I don’t know where he keeps them!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Giovanni looks down, a ball of boiling red liquid forming between his hands. He tosses it at her, soaking the serf and the books on the shelf. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah!” Molly looks up, her hands covered in a delicious smelling liquid.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How’d you like the taste of my Epithet, little girl?” The bandit sneered. Molly takes a tentative lick of her finger. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pretty good actually,” she says, licking her fingers. “Is this tomato soup?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, and I seasoned it myself-” he started proudly, “- wait no! It’s poison! Or acid! Poisonous acid!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The girl looked up at the bandit. “It tastes like soup. Is your Epithet ‘Soup’?” The man freezes in shock. “I know it's rude to ask, but you are attacking me after all.”  </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Giovanni takes a threatening step toward her. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>You </span>
  </em>
  <span>must think your Epithet is something, huh?” He snarled. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No, no, it's nothing. It’s ‘Dumb’. No threat at all!” She stammers.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Molly backs away from the bandits. A cloud of pink steam bursts from Giovanni’ feet and he disappears. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Teleports behind you!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” A voice whispered in her ear. Giovanni grabs her by the collar of her dress and holds her aloft. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Ah!” Molly yelped. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Maybe we can use her to get stuff!” One of the other bandits suggested.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yeah! I bet her lord needs his house slave!” Another agreed. Giovanni smiled a sly smile at the serf. He leaps out the window, still carrying Molly in his arms. She wriggled in his grasp. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Where are you taking me?” Molly asked them. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>One of the bandits pulled out a piece of rope, tying Molly’s hands behind her back. “Just somewhere to hide you and hold you hostage!” he replied. He grinned. They carried her to an old house. It smelled of mildew, cobwebs strung at every corner. It looked like an old merchant’s place. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>They pulled up a chair and placed Molly onto the seat and tied her up in more rope. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Be good!” said Giovanni sweetly, closing the blinds.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Ok…”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>They left the room whooping about their victory. The girl sat in the darkness for a while. </span>
  <em>
    <span>This wasn’t so bad. If they realize that my lord doesn’t really care about me fast enough, maybe I can stay with them! Stealing things sounds more fun than cooking and sweeping,</span>
  </em>
  <span> she thought hopefully. The door to the room creaked open. Molly yelped in fear. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>A man with wine-red hair stepped into the room. With one hand he covered his right eye, the other holding a bunch of papers. He fumbled around and lit a lantern. Something red dripped onto the papers. Molly looked at his clothes. A merchant.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <em>
    <span>Is that blood?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Molly thought, not making a sound. The man turned around to where the serf sat, tied up. Molly squeaked. He looked around cautiously and stepped closer. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Who did this to you?” He hissed. His hand pulled away from his eye, revealing a wound from a knife of some sort, blood dripping from the socket. Molly pressed herself against the chair. She didn’t reply.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>He reached for the rope with a bloody hand. The man’s fingertips turned a brilliant golden color. As soon as the merchant touched the rope, it turned into solid gold. He ripped the metal rope as if it were paper. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“T-thanks... “ the serf girl whispered. He smiled an ugly smile that one could compare to a rat’s. A crash sounded outside the room. The merchant dove into the pile of boxes. Molly stood, free and confused in the middle of the room when the bandits stampeded into the room, arguing. Giovanni, their leader, she assumed, shot her an annoyed look and the gang encircled her. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Drafts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Mera finds herself behind a desk with a dumb, overly buff bodyguard, Indus.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>y'know, might actually make this into a comic. Also I know its literally been a day but this is fun an I UPDATE WHEN I WANT TO AND YOU CANT STOP ME!!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Mera dipped the quill in the ink and pulled it out, placing it on the paper. She looked at it disapprovingly and pushed it off to the side. She groaned as a papercut nibbled at her finger. She lay her head on the table. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Why must writing be so difficult?” She mumbled to herself. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“LADY MERA!” A male voice boomed from downstairs. The poet looked up from her work to see a dark-skinned, overly buff man with a goofy smile plastered on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I told you to stop calling me that, Indus,” Mera growled. “I’m not even remotely royal-blooded. Unlike that goody-two-shoes knight.” She found Indus a while back, working as a farmer in the village furthest from the castle. He found her work fascinating and decided to follow her back. Now he worked as her bodyguard. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Lady Mera, remember that charm you ordered from that witch doctor a few days ago?” Inus’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. He may be stupid, but she found his company nice. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yes?” She answered. “Did he drop it off yet?” Indus shook his head. Mera sighed. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I visited him this morning. He said he was almost done with it!” he said happily. Mera rolled her eyes. Of course, Indus visited him. Nothing was stopping the former farmer from being extra ‘helpful’.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Indus, did I ever tell you that you are a giant bag of bricks sometimes?” He answered with an oblivious, “Yup!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Mera sighed, trying to stand up from the chair. Her knees gave up from under her and she fell to the floor. Her arm hit the ground with a sickening crack. She groaned in pain. Indus reached for her, but the poet pushed it away. She was used to this. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Are you okay, Lady Mera?” He said, worried. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m fine Indus,” she growled. A knock on the door brought them to their feet. Mera carefully stepped down the stairs and reached for the door. She opened it and was greeted with a masked face.  </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Indus clamored down the stairs and headed for the door, almost shoving Mera out of the way. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hello, Mr. Witch Doctor!” He said with a huge smile and wave. She rolled her eyes and the small bob of the doctor’s head told her that he did the same. He pulled out a small pouch and handed it to the poet. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Take care,” said a snarky young boy’s voice, muffled by the mask. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Indus closed the door when he left. Mera carefully opened the small pouch. Inside was a small wooden charm shaped like a cat. It was strung together by a simple bit of rope. She smiled, putting it around her neck. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Indus poked at it gently. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What is it supposed to do again?” He asked. Mera glared at him. She leaned against the bookshelf, sighing. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The shelf started to creak. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Lady Mera!” Indus shouted, pushing her aside when the bookshelf fell over, the wood splintering. She crashed into the wall with a sickening crunch. Mera winced as she felt her bones break from the impact. She dropped to the floor.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m so sorry, Lady Mera,” Indus started. The poet wasn’t paying attention to him. She was looking at the book lying open on the floor, its pages splayed out to read: </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  
  <em>
    <span>The Arsene Amulet:</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    
  </em>
  <em>
    
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>An amulet capable of stealing another person’s Epithet and storing it inside, granting the wearer the Epithet’s abilities. It has been passed around kingdoms for years keeping it away from thieves’ hands, but it would soon find a new home in Sweet Jazz Kingdom’s royal vault. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  
  <span>She looked up at Indus and grinned. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It looks like we’re getting a job at the royal vault.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yeah i know this one was shorter than the first (which btw this is probably going to be the shortest chapter) which was already kinda short but i hid references to two other characters in this :&gt;</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Minions, Friends, Thievery</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Giovanni and his bandits attempt to steal from Molly's Manor... again...</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Giovanni pat Molly’s puffy brown hair and smiled. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What are we doing today, Boss?” She asked him. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Why, I’m glad you asked, Bear Trap!” He gave her that nickname when they decided to team up. “We’re going to get revenge for you and we’re going to steal from your old lord!” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The former serf looked at him, confused. “Revenge?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The bandit leader grinned. “For mistreating my favorite minion, of course!” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“But I was a serf!” She said, pulling up her hood. “And he was my lord! I needed somewhere to live!”  </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh.” He looked down, remembering the day, a month ago when he and his gang of bandits had wanted to rob the Blyndeff Manor but came out with a little girl. “Hey, at least we get to steal the things we wanted to steal a month ago!” Giovanni pointed out. He pulled on his own hood, covering his messy pink hair. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>They sat in silence in the old merchant’s place while they waited for the rest of the bandits. Giovanni picked up his knife and examined it before sheathing it onto his belt. Molly piped up. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Giovanni, why do you always carry that knife with you?” She asked. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The bandit pulled out his knife. “You mean my SOUL SLUGGER SOUP KNIFE OF MAXIMUM DESTRUCTION?" Molly giggled at the name. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The door burst open as Giovanni’s six other minions shoved each other in. One of them, Ben, shouted, “We got bread!” and cheered. Flame Thrower opened the sack and pulled out three large loaves of bread. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“We stole these from the big bakery!” He said, handing them to Giovanni, who cut two into four pieces, handing them out to the gang. He left a loaf in the bag, for later. He summoned his signature tomato soup and poured it into each of their bowls. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, Boss,” Molly said softly, nibbling on the warm bread. He smiled at his minions. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They ate in silence for a while, then Spike elbowed Dark Star, spilling some soup onto</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Crash’s hood. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey! What was that for?” He flicked soup into Dark Star’s face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That was Spike’s fault!” Dark Star retorted, pointing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t do anything!” Spike argued. “YOU sat too close.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Spike has a point,” mumbled Crusher. “You could’ve sat on a different crate.” He gestured from his spot on the floor. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Aw, come on!” Dark Star complained. “Ben, back me up.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Ben looked up. “Huh?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Giovanni watched the argument from the opposite of the room, sitting next to a concerned Bear Trap. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Shouldn’t we try to stop the fight?” The little girl asked him. He shrugged. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They’ll figure it out sooner or later.” The bandit stood up. Ben sat on the floor next to Crusher. He looked at Giovanni. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hey, Boss?” Ben asked. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yes?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What are we doing today? Are we just stealing bread again?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Giovanni smirked. “We’re stealing from the Blyndeff Manor!” He announced. The other bandits stopped bickering. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>He turned to see Molly, smiling. “Let’s do it, Boss!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  
  <span>They snuck around the side of the mansion, under the cover of Molly’s silence bubble. She had convinced them to sneak in instead of just barging in, like last time. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What are we stealing, exactly?” Spike asked. Giovanni shrugged. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Stuff! Expensive stuff!” the bandit exclaimed. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>All of a sudden, the silence bubble popped. Molly let out a yelp of surprise before slapping her hands over her mouth. </span>
  
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Sorry,” she whispered, the bubble reappearing. Spike looked at her, concerned, before pulling out a mace and smashing a window. They climbed inside. The crew of bandits hid behind a dusty bookshelf. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Wow.. your lord still hasn't gotten another serf to replace you yet…” Crash observed. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yeah…” Molly sighed. “He’ll probably not notice until the shelves get so dusty you can’t breathe.” They snuck around the library aimlessly, until Molly pointed out, “where are we going, exactly?” They looked at her. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I thought you were leading the way,” Giovanni said. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I told you, I don’t know where my lord keeps his stuff,” she reminded him. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Maybe his room?” Dark Star suggested. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The patter of footsteps made them jump. They ducked behind a shelf just in time to see Martin, the owner of the Manor, talking with a knight. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Your manor had the Amulet last,” the blonde-haired knight told him, subconsciously tapping the sword that hung at her side. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Amulet? What amulet?” Martin said obliviously. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>She looked at him quizzically. “The Arsene Amulet?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Giovanni looked at his bandit gang. </span>
  <em>
    <span>That amulet must really be important if a knight came to get it, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thought. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I bet it's worth a lot of money! </span>
  </em>
  <span>He turned to his boys. “Change of plan. We follow this dumb Manor owner to his vault, distract the knight, and steal that necklace!” They nodded in agreement. Giovanni returned his attention to the conversion. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh yeah! I have it in the vault!” Martin told her. “I’ll get it and bring it to you.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I prefer to follow you there. I can’t have you bringing me a fake. There are too many thieves looking for it.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Sure!” He replied, walking out of the library. The bandits crept behind them. Molly looked around nervously. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>They closely followed the knight and Molly’s former lord. They snuck around the mansion to a large room upstairs. Martin opened a large door in his bedroom, revealing a bunch of a collection of expensive-looking items. He went over to a golden necklace shaped like a cat with a green gem in the middle. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Giovanni leaped out of Molly’s silence bubble, shouting. “Ah-ha! So YOU have that necklace!” The rest of the bandits followed, leaving Molly in her bubble. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“AHH! Bandits!” shrieked Martin. He ducked behind the knight. “D-Dame Percival! Deal with them!” he said. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yes, I know this is kinda long compared to the first two :p<br/>All of the next chapters (except for Indus' chapter) will be about this long or longer (especially Zora’s and Ramsey’s)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>